The History of Dueling in America

The fatal duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr shocked the nation. But it was the identity of the man killed, not the fact of the duel itself, that produced such dismay.

By 1804, dueling had become an American fixture. And for another thirty years or more, its popularity would continue to grow.

Like many early American customs, dueling was imported. Starting in the Middle Ages, European nobles had defended their honor in man-to-man battles.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON AARON BURR

Why did Hamilton despise Burr and who was Philip Schuyler?

• Schuyler was a U.S. Senator for New York.• He was succeeded by Aaron Burr for his senate

seat.• He later regained his Senate seat by defeating

Burr.

• *Philip Schuyler was the

father in-law to Alexander

Hamilton.

ELECTION OF 1804

Jefferson was re-nominated and Governor George Clinton of New York replaced Aaron Burr as his running mate.

During an unsuccessful campaign

for election to Governor of New York

in 1804, Burr was relentlessly

defamed in the press.

Often times the writings of

Alexander Hamilton were used by

the press for this purpose.

AARON BURR

The “interview”• In an attempt to prevent the participants from being

prosecuted, procedures were implemented to give all witnesses plausible deniability.

• For example, the pistols were transported to the island in a portmanteau, enabling the rowers (who also stood with their backs to the duelists) to say under oath that they had not seen any pistols.

• The duel itself was called and interview because duels were illegal in New York.

An offended party sent a challenge through his second. If the recipient apologized, the matter usually ended.

In a typical duel, each party acted through a second. The seconds' duty, above all, was to try to reconcile the parties without violence.

THE CHALLENGE

The “second”

• Each party would name a trusted representative (a second) who would, between them, determine a suitable "field of honor", the chief criterion being isolation from interruptions.

• Duels traditionally took place at dawn, for this very reason.

• It was also the duty of each party's second to check that the weapons were equal and that the duel was

fair.

If he elected to fight, the recipient chose the weapons and the time and place of the encounter.

Up until combat began, apologies could be given and the duel stopped.

After combat began, it could be stopped at any point after honor had been satisfied.

Choice of the Offended Party

• to first blood, in which case the duel would be ended as soon as one man was wounded, even if the wound was minor:

• until one man was so severely wounded as to be physically unable to continue the duel;

• to the death, in which case there would be no satisfaction until the other party was mortally wounded;

• or, in the case of pistol duels, each party would fire one shot. Even if neither man had been hit, if the challenger stated that he was satisfied, the duel would be declared over. A pistol duel could continue until one man was wounded or killed, but to have more than three exchanges of fire was considered barbaric, and somewhat ridiculous if no hits were achieved.

THE DUEL

In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, Burr and Hamilton departed by separate boats from Manhattan and rowed across the Hudson River to a spot known as the Heights of Weehawken in New Jersey.

This was a popular dueling ground below the towering cliffs of the Palisades.

Hamilton and Burr agreed to take the duel to Weehawken because dueling had been outlawed in New York. (The same site was used for 18 known duels between 1700 and 1845)

View of New York from the location of the duel in New Jersey.

All first-hand accounts of the duel agree that two shots were fired. Hamilton and Burr's seconds disagreed on the intervening time between the shots.

It was common for both principals in a duel to fire a shot at the ground to exemplify courage, and then the duel could come to an end.

Hamilton purposely fired first, into the air (which was proven by the presence of a freshly shot tree limb above and behind Burr), without hitting Burr.

After hesitating, Burr, rather than adhering to the common dueling format, shot and hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen above the right hip.

Some historians believe he tripped on a rock.

.

A mortally wounded Hamilton died the following day and was buried in the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery in Manhattan.

Governor Morris, a political ally of Hamilton's, gave the eulogy at his funeral and secretly established a fund to support his widow and children.

Burr was charged with murder in New York and New Jersey, but neither charge reached trial.

Historic Monument - Hamilton-Burr Duel, Weehawken

The monument erected to Alexander Hamilton, located in Weehawken, New Jersey, has had many faces over the years.

Due to protesters and vandalism, the monument was replaced several times..

Rock that Hamilton leaned on after being shot.

•After Burr left the Vice Presidency at the end of his term in 1805, he journeyed into what was then the American West, particularly the Ohio River Valley area and the lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

•While historians are uncertain as to Burr's particular activities, he was accused in turns of having committed treason, of a conspiracy to steal Louisiana Purchase lands away from the United States and crown himself a King or Emperor.

Exploring the West

Burr Acquitted

• Burr was arrested in 1807 and brought to trial on charges of treason, for which he was acquitted.

• After several years in self-imposed exile in Europe, Burr returned to practicing law in New York City and lived a largely reclusive existence until his death

200th anniversary of famous duel

Douglas Hamilton (left) and Antonio Burr stand in their

positions for the reenactment of their

ancestors' famous duel on the fight's 200th anniversary in Weehawken, New Jersey

on July 11, 2004. (AP Photo)

September 22, 1842: Future President Abraham Lincoln, at the time an Illinois state legislator, accepted a duel by state auditor James Shields.

Lincoln chose cavalry broadswords as the weapon and Shields backed down soon after the duel began when he realized Lincoln's long arms gave him a greater reach and therefore a strong advantage.

Unusual Duels

• In 1808, two Frenchmen are said to have fought in balloons over Paris, each attempting to shoot and puncture the other's balloon; one duelist is said to have been shot down and killed with his second.

• Thirty-five years later, two men are said to have fought a duel by means of throwing billiard balls at each other.

• Some participants in a duel, given the choice of weapons, are said to have deliberately chosen ridiculous weapons such as howitzers, sledgehammer, or forkfuls of pig dung, in order to show their disdain for dueling.